WANTED!

800 mentors sought to help change lives of at-risk youths

If you are willing to share skills, knowledge and expertise as a mentor, then you may just be the right person to help change the lives and empower scores of youth living in eight troubled communities across Kingston.

Under the Youth Upliftment Through Employment (YUTE) programme, which is a private-sector coalition initiative, at least 50 at-risk youths are being aided in improving their employability through skills training, but head of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ), Joseph M. Matalon, stressed yesterday that the participants in the programme need the support of mentors who would provide guidance.

"We need about 800 mentors by May 1. So far, we only have 110. I want to use this opportunity to appeal to Jamaicans from all walks of life to offer their service and provide mentorship to the participants," Matalon told The Gleaner yesterday.

He made the comments shortly after the PSOJ and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) signed a memorandum of understanding as a gesture of their commitment to the programme.

USAID Mission Director Dr Karen Hilliard said the agency has already committed US$400,000 in support of the programme through PRIDE Jamaica. The agency intends to allocate a similar sum to the project next year.

In addition to the 50 youths currently in training, Matalon explained that there is another batch of 50 who, because they are more qualified at various levels, have already been placed in employment.

YUTE, which currently has 825 participants from eight inner-city communities, was officially launched last month and is aimed at tackling the root causes of crime and unemployment among young people. The programme is divided into three streams - YUTE Employment, YUTE U-Turn and Youth Entrepreneurship - with 665, 65 and 95 people participating in each stream, respectively.

Persons who wish to become mentors may sign up at www.yutejamaica.org, or call 920-6254, 568-4777 or 361-1557.